God of War: Chains of Olympus
"He'll live. They must." - Athena God of War: Chains of Olympus for PSP is a video game developed by Ready at Dawn Studios in 2008. It is a prequel to the video game God of War. The game takes place in the period in which Kratos served the Gods of Olympus for 10 years. Over the years, Kratos had to complete several goals in order to achieve redemption for the nightmares that haunt him. Gameplay Kratos, the main character in the God of War series, uses an array of both weapons and magic powers to fight many different types of enemies, with most of them based on monsters of Greek myth. All throughout the game, Kratos can find red experience orbs which allow him to level up his weapons and magic powers, as well as Gorgon Eyes and Phoenix Feathers that allow him to increase his health and magic meters. Throughout the story of the game, Kratos obtains numerous weapons and powers from the various Gods of Olympus, with many of them pertaining classic Greek myth. Story Set halfway through Kratos' 10 years of service to the Gods, Chains of Olympus begins with the gods sending Kratos to the city of Attica to help defend the city from the invading Persian army. Spotting a basilisk climbing over the city walls, Kratos gives chase through the city. While chasing the basilisk, Kratos confronts the Persian King inside the city and kills him. After defeating the basilisk, he witnesses the sun fall from the sky, plunging the world in darkness. Following the dim remaining light on the horizon, Kratos fights his way through the city of Marathon, along the way encountering the black fog of Morpheus, which now covers the land in darkness. Eventually Kratos makes his way to the Temple of Helios (source of the remaining light) and the Sun chariot. He encounters a statue of Athena, who tells him that Helios has disappeared and Morpheus has used this to his advantage to cause the gods to fall "into a deep slumber." Athena wants Kratos to retrieve Helios so he can release Morpheus' grasp on the other gods and his power over the Earth. Along the way, Kratos is haunted by a strange melody, which he later recognizes as the song of his daughter Calliope. Kratos fights his way through the Temple of Helios and is sent to the caves within the temple of Olympus by Eos. Meeting her in the caves, she tells Kratos that she will guarantee the gods' promise of relieving him from his nightmares if he will help her save Helios from the Titan Atlas, who has abducted him. Kratos does not believe her (having been lied to by the gods before); however, he reluctantly agrees to help save Helios. Kratos then retrieves the primordial fire needed to awaken the fire steeds from the cave and returns to the temple. After restoring the fire steeds back to life, the horses lead Kratos into the underworld before retreating. There, he meets Charon on his ferry upon the river Styx. Charon compares the similarities between himself and Kratos, saying they 'are both slaves to the Olympians', and tells Kratos to go, saying it is not yet his time. Denying Kratos' passage, and with Kratos refusing to leave, they fight before Charon knocks Kratos unconscious and drops him into Tartarus. Kratos witnesses the breaking of the chains binding Atlas in the pits of Tartarus; Kratos eventually fights and climbs his way out of Tartarus, this time defeating Charon. He takes the ferry and follows the light of Helios (currently illuminating the underworld) down the river Styx, eventually coming upon the Temple of Persephone. He sees his daughter Calliope on the shorelines of the temple and follows her inside. Unable to find her, instead he meets Persephone Queen of the Underworld. Persephone tells Kratos that Calliope is in the fields of Elysium and that the only way to see her again is for Kratos to "release" all of his past evils and become worthy of Elysium, giving up his powers given to him by the gods; however, Persephone warns him that the world will suffer for his choice. After transferring his power into the Forsaken Tree, which included all of his weapons, his magic and relics, Kratos regains his humanity, becoming a normal man and being reunited with his daughter. However, Persephone appears: she taunts and mocks Kratos' choice and reveals to him her true plans. Bitter at being betrayed by Zeus, tricked by Hades and abandoned by the gods, Persephone was the one who had freed Atlas. While Kratos was disarming himself, Atlas was slowly carrying out Persephone's plan to destroy the pillar that holds the world, and with it, Olympus. Persephone plans to kill everyone, including herself, to free her from her situation. Kratos realizes now that if he stays with his daughter, it would mean the end of the world for everyone, including Calliope and himself. Though it tears him apart, he sacrifices seeing his daughter again in order to regain his power by killing all the souls in Elysium. From some of the souls he gets back his weapons, relics and magic. Because of this, he once more becomes the Ghost of Sparta, regaining his characteristic appearance. With his skills restored, Kratos pursues Persephone, catching her at the base of the pillar. She tells him it is the end, then reveals her other form - a winged beast clad in black armor- before carrying Kratos to the top of the pillar. Once they reach the summit, Kratos and Persephone engage in a bloody final battle; during the battle, Persephone tries to subdue and confuse Kratos, urging him to go back to Elysium and be with Calliope, and when he resists, she orders Atlas to destroy him. Kratos chains Atlas to the roof of the underworld before returning to battle Persephone and eventually killing her with Gauntlet of Zeus. Dying, but uncaring of her fate, the goddess taunts Kratos, snarling that now his suffering shall never end as her body then explodes, severing the pillar in the shockwave with Atlas now the only thing holding the world together. Though the Titan too gloats to him about the gods' true plans for him, Kratos believes his path is clear, serving them regardless so they will keep their promises to free him from his nightmares as it is all he has left. Atlas ends by foretelling that they will meet again, and Kratos will come to regret the events that occurred here. Keeping his own promise to the gods, Kratos returns Helios to the sky. But he is left with the knowledge that his sins have consumed him, and he will never be pure enough to see his daughter again. Weak from battle, Kratos falls unconscious from the sun chariot, but is suddenly stopped before striking the ground. He has landed on the cliffs that he would later jump from in the original God of War. Two gods, Athena and Helios approach him and, as they praise him for his work, remove the Sun Shield and the Gauntlet of Zeus. As they depart through the gate to Olympus, Helios suggests on helping further. Athena refuses. The pair then retreat through the gateway to Olympus, leaving Kratos unconscious at the cliffs overlooking the Aegean Sea. Characters *Kratos - The main character and anti-hero of the God of War series. Was once a great Spartan general but is now forced to serve the Gods. Later replaces Ares as the God of War. *Eos - Barely holding on after her brother's disappearance, which caused Morpheus to take over the Earth, Eos asked Kratos to find Helios, and tells him to acquire the Sun Shield. *Morpheus - The God of Dreams. He took advantage of Helios' disappearance by casting the Gods into a deep slumber and began enveloping the Earth into the Black Fog. *Calliope - Daughter of Kratos. Calliope was born and raised in Sparta, living with her mother in the country. While Calliope was easily frightened by her father's violent nature, in truth, Calliope, along with her mother, were the only people to not fear him. Now, she is dead, killed by her own father, but, mysteriously, Kratos begin to feel her presence nearby. *Helios - The God of Sun, who mysteriously disappears, dooming the world to eternal darkness. His disappearance has led to Morpheus' takeover. *Charon - In order to reach the location in Underworld in which Helios is located, Kratos has to face the ferryman of Styx himself: the powerful being known as Charon. *Atlas - The great, enduring Titan. Liberated by Persephone in order to capture Helios and, using him, destroy the Pillar which holds the world on it, thus killing the Gods, and the humanity with them. *Persephone - The Goddess of Underworld, who decided to take her own revenge on the Gods by freeing Atlas and guiding him into destruction of the Pillar which holds the world on it, using the captured Helios. Enemies Common enemies *Persian Warrior - These are the standard troops of the Persian army that invades the city of Attica. *Persian Archer - These are the ranged troops of the Persian army. *Persian Fleet - These are the ships supporting the Persian army from sea. *Satyr - Satyrs are very talented warriors and are armed with a double bladed staff which can be broken down when needed into two separate sword-like axes. *Satyr Grenadier - They are like the standard Satyr, except that they carry a flask full of explosive material and very agile. *Dark Satyr - The stronger version of normal Satyr, these vile beast are much stronger in combat. *Dark Satyr Grenadier - They appear similar to the Satyr Grenadier encountered earlier in the game, except that they have blackened skin, and a skullish head. *Banshee - This female snake-like screamer appears after Morpheus' Fog took over the land. *Harpling - Dangerous offspring of the dreaded Harpies. *Cursed Harpling - Fiendish cousins of normal Harplings. *Morpheus Beast - This massive, sabertooth lions appears out of the Fog of Morpheus. *Sphinx - Giant cat-like monsters similar to Morpheus Beasts, but more powerful. *Shade - Undead soldiers of Morpheus, which come from the Fog of Dreams. *Shade Archer - Archers of Morpheus, which come from the Fog of Dreams. *Hoplite - Undead soldiers which are common in Underworld. *Hoplite Archer - Undead archers of Underworld. *Shielded Hoplite - Some Hoplites use shields to protect themselves. *Fire Guard - The Fire Guards are the elite minions of Helios who went mad without their master. *Fire Sentry - Minions of Helios armed with magic fireballs. *Gorgon - Gorgons are encountered during Kratos's journey to save Helios. *Gorgon Queen - The most powerful of Gorgons, Queens appears in the final level of the game. *Hyperion Guard - Powerful magical protectors of the inner halls of the Temple of Helios. *Death Knight - Dreaded magical Guardians of the Underworld. Similar to the Hyperion Guards. *Minotaur - These Minotaur are different from those seen in god of war, are larger. They are most powerful enemies, have as axe *Armored Minotaur - The Armored Minotaurs are brutish, strong Minotaur Kratos encounters in his journey. *Cyclops - Cyclopes are seen throughout the game, all of which are very powerful and usually present a significant danger in battle. *Armored Cyclops - These enemies resembles and fights like the standard one, except that it's partially covered in thick bronze armor. Bosses *Persian King - The Persian King leads his army against the city of Attica. Kratos confronts him in one of the city's halls. The King is a massive, towering warrior armed with a big sword and a magic Efreet. Kratos succeeds in defeating the King, and, despite the King's pleads to spare his life, kills him by repeatedly crushing a chest onto his head. *Basilisk - The great evil, a giant monster brought forth by Persians to conquer Greece. This lizard-like monster is fought many times during the battle of Attica. The beast generates fire inside its mouth and spit enormous fireballs, ruining the city around it. Kratos succeeds in killing it by keeping its mouth closed by force, while the beast was to spit a fireball. This results in the fireball exploding inside Basilisk's mouth, instantly killing the great monster. *Charon - The ferryman of Underworld, Charon is fought twice. This old, half-undead man uses his magic powers (especially his mask) and a powerful scythe against Kratos. He even defeats Kratos and sends him in Tartarus, from which Kratos returns, armed with the Gauntlet of Zeus. Using this new power, Kratos defeats the ferryman by cutting him in two pieces and repeatedly beating his face with the Gauntlet. *Persephone - The Queen of Underworld, which is plotting to bring the end of the World. Kratos confronts her in the end of the game. In battle, she takes forms of an armored woman with butterfly-like wings. The Titan Atlas is also present, helping her by attacking Kratos with his giant four arms. Kratos succeeds in weakening her form, thanks to the power radiated from Helios (who is being held in Atlas' arms) which he targets into her body. Then, he delivers the final blow with the Gauntlet of Zeus, finishing Persephone's life (causing Hades anger). Items and abilities Weapons *Blades of Chaos - Powerful blades Given to Kratos by Ares when he pledged his alliegance to him. They're a pair of large curved blades that are attached to Kratos' arms via chains. He can swing them about to strike enemies. *Gauntlet of Zeus - This Gauntlet of Zeus was a gigantic gauntlet forged by Hepheastus, and used by Zeus to chain the mighty Titans in the depths of Tartarus. It was given to the Jailer of Tartarus to protect, and only he had the key to the Temple of Zeus Magic *Efreet - Kratos obtains the ability to use the fiery Djinn after defeating the Persian King during the seige of Attica. When used, it unleashes the fire spirit which attacks all surrounding enemies. *Light of Dawn - After obtaining Primordial Fire within the Caves of Olympus, Kratos is able to summon orbs of bright light and hurl them at his enemies. *Charon's Wrath - When Kratos battles Charon, the ferryman has the ability to blast green, ravenous flames at the Spartan warrior, via the golden mask he wears. Kratos gains this power after confronting Charon the second time. Relics *Sun Shield - The Sun Shield is an object of the Gods used to block attacks and return projectiles. Kratos obtained the Shield within the Temple of Helios *Triton's Lance - Triton's Lance is a spear-like item that Kratos finds in the Caves of Olympus. It allows him to breath underwater, much like Poseidon's Trident. *Cryptkeeper's Key - This key helps Kratos go through Tartarus. Trivia . Although this game takes place before God of War, Hades treats Kratos respectfully when encountering him in his quest to defeat Ares. As Kratos killed Persephone earlier, he would presumably be vengeful. In fact, one of his motives for hating Kratos in God of War III is Persephone's death. Category:God of War:Chains of Olympus Category:God of War Series Category:Games